Bad to Basics
by jad-lard
Summary: Temptation comes in many forms
1. Chapter 1

Back to Basics  
  
Hello, my name is Jack, and I run a coffee shop in San Francisco. The other day I heard a strange story, ok, not so strange for me. This regular customer of mine whom I shall call Screwy came into my shop all excited about something. Curiosity got the best of me, and I had to ask," Hey, Screwy what's all the excitement about?"  
  
Screwy said," Come over and sit with me a while, and I'll tell you." So, I went over to the table he was at and sat down.  
  
Screwy continued," I've got this associate who's a tempter, and he's trying to move up in the demon ranks, so he got himself assigned to one Paige Matthews and her boyfriend, Richard. Well, actually he was assigned to Richard first and then branched out to include Paige. Richard was easy as he has a lot of family history. Families, such a love hate relationship; you love for all the drama and trauma they cause, but hate them when they actually provide love and support. Anyway, Richard is a really powerful witch, but when he uses his powers, he has this tendency to go on a power trip. Not that my friend didn't help Richard along this path. Then, when Richard went off the deep end by over using magic, it was suggested to him that he quit magic cold turkey. Now his girlfriend is also a witch and a very powerful one at that; she's a member of the Charmed Ones. Do you know anything about the Charmed Ones; they live right here in San Francisco?  
  
"Yeah, I've heard of them, but I've never met them." I lied, thinking; best not to lay all my cards on the table at once seeing how I am dealing with a demon here.  
  
Screwy sneers but continues," Well, let me get to the meat of the story. Paige talked Richard into a little vacation because he'd been working hard. It was the beginning of January, so Paige suggested a warmer climate. Richard complained that there wasn't enough time to get tickets at a reasonable price, but Paige said who needed tickets. Richard complained that she wasn't helping with quitting magic cold turkey, but she said that she needs to keep in practice with her orbing. It could be a matter of life or death with her duties as a Charmed One. He smirked at her and reminded her that he knows where she lives. They both chuckled a that.  
  
The next morning they were dressed for a warm sunny beach; Paige has an oversized hat with a gauzy wrap and sun glasses, Richard has sandals, bathing suit, towels and sunglasses. He asked," So, where are we going?"  
  
She replied," That's a surprise! Just grab my hand." He does so, and they disappear in a swirl of bluish white lights.  
  
They went to Kingston, Jamaica; where they rematerialized out of the same swirl of bluish white lights. Unknown to them they were seen by some natives in the dawn twilight and followed by my friend who has a tempter's low jack on them. My friend says that Kingston is real nice this time of year, and our friends had a nice day. On their way back to the hidden place or so they thought, they were stopped by some of the same Jamaicans who saw them orb in the morning. They were hidden in the foliage and jumped out to confront Paige and Richard when they walked back into the clearing. One of the Jamaican's said," What jew doin' here, maan?  
  
Paige answered," We're just taking a walk in the woods at sunset."  
  
The same guy replied," Don't give me that maan! My friend here saw you arrive here at dawn. We've been waiting here all day to see if you'd return."  
  
Paige said," You're friend must be mistaken, how could we have arrived here?"  
  
An older woman stepped out from behind a tree and said," How did you do it indeed? That's what I'd like to know. Appearing out of a swirl of bluish white lights isn't something you see everyday. Most people won't even see it in a lifetime, so don't play coy with me." Paige again," Well, uhmm, I can't really explain. You already know way too much; can I ask you to keep this to yourselves, and we'll be on our way?"  
  
Old woman replied," Who'd believe us anyway, and like could we stop you anyway? But, just one thing before you disappear, power comes to those at need, but the desire for power leads to corruption."  
  
Paige added," Uh, why did you tell us that? One last thing, it would be better if you didn't observe us leave."  
  
The old lady looked long and hard into Paige's eyes and then turned and left. The rest of the people followed suit, turned and left. When Paige and Richard were all alone again, they orbed out. When they orbed back in Richard's house, Richard said," Well, are you happy? I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't start some kind of cult around they're encounter with us."  
  
Paige replies," Well, if I'm going to be worshipped like a Goddess, then I'm going to want you to treat me accordingly."  
  
Richard quips," I know you're joking, but don't you think the old woman's aphorism was about just this thing. Our magical powers taint us in very subtle ways, and the more we use them the more tainted we become. Oh yeah, before I forget, I really had a good time today."  
  
They looked into each others eyes, moved closer together, and started to kiss." 


	2. Bad to Basics2

Bad to Basics 2  
  
Screwy picks this time right in the middle of such a good story to get up and head for the door. I call after him, "Hey, is that it, how about the rest of the story? I'll get you a cup of the house brew."  
  
Screwy turns to face me," I thought you were never going to offer." as he moves back towards his seat and sits down. I get up and get him a large cup of coffee.  
  
I continue, "So, why are you telling me all this?"  
  
"Jack, Jack, everybody who's anybody knows that you had a hand in the reconstitution of the dark priesthood. I'm just trying to curry a little favor."  
  
"I think you're wasting your time. I have nothing to do with the politics of the underworld."  
  
He says, "Ok Jack, whatever you say." as he looks deeply into my eyes. Thinking to myself, now what do I do, continue to play this game of cat and mouse? He's on a fishing expedition, and I almost took the bait. Coming back out of my thoughts, I say, "Quit trying to read my mind!"  
  
"I'm not trying to read your mind, just trying to determine if you're telling the truth or not."  
  
"Now you're just splitting hairs. Well, are you going to continue your story?"  
  
"Well," Screwy replies, "Richard's family has some bad luck when it comes to magic. They think that it's their entire fault for the feud and all the damage caused. They've never realized that we were always their suggesting that the road to revenge be taken, and when they choose the high road, we always intervened to make sure that it wouldn't work out. Now, it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Richard believes he has bad karma when it comes to magic, and bad things always happen when he uses magic. Not that it's all Richard's fault; we're always watching making bad things happen to keep him on the path to destruction. This leads me to the main event, Paige. She has a little character flaw called pride, and my underlings think they can use it against her."  
  
"Do tell, I could use to give her a little pay back. She dumped me in a heap of garbage once because I got in her face."  
  
"I thought you said you didn't know them"  
  
"No, I said that I don't know them well."  
  
"Ok," Screwy continues, "Richard went on a little magical bender and dropped out of sight, ok, a big one, and Paige got worried about him and tracked him down. Little did Paige know that we were using Richard as bait to trap her? We wouldn't have had a chance if it weren't for the intervention of a dark priestess named, Leirda, who seems to have had a history with Paige. When Paige caught on to the fact that Leirda was there, she dropped trying to help Richard and took off trying to capture Leirda, go figure. I hope Leirda knows what she's doing. Paige is very adept at tracking shimmers and magical teleportation spells and a very powerful witch."  
  
"Ok, details," I replied, "Did your underlings have an encounter with Paige?"  
  
"Well yes, my friends did have an encounter with Paige, and to tell you truly it didn't go very well. They had tracked Richard to a cave in a lower dimension where he was looking for some kind of artifact that would help with his karma problem. He stayed there for a few days, so my friends, the temptation demons, thought it would be a great place for Paige to find him. One of the demons went back to Paige to suggest a few clues as to Richard's whereabouts. Being a smart girl, Paige found Richard pretty quickly. The trap on her sprung with one demon trying to case a bind with ropes spell on her. This she undid with a cute counterspell and a simple rhyme. The next demon tried to throw a net over her, and she orbed it back on top of this demon. Richard got into the act and threw another demon into the cave wall with his telekinesis. The demons that attacked shimmer out leaving a couple who were still invisible to watch. This is when Leirda, the dark priestess shimmered in and said to Paige, 'I bet you thought you'd never see me again?'  
  
Paige replied, 'I should have guessed that someone like you would be behind an ambush like this.'  
  
'You wouldn't want to follow me, now would you?' She used her power of persuasion on Paige as she shimmered out.  
  
Paige orbed out as she said, 'Wait here Richard; I'll be back for you shortly.'  
  
After Paige left, one of the demons glamoured into looking like Paige and used an illusion spell that would make orbs appear every time she shimmered. This demon disguised as Paige orbed/shimmered into Richard's presence, and told him, 'Darn, lost her! What are you doing here, anyway?'  
  
Richard says, 'Looking for an artifact that's supposed to clear karmic baggage.' As he turned and continued to dig into the wall that he was digging into before being interrupted.  
  
Demon Paige replied, 'Still on that kick, are we?'  
  
Richard stopped digging and turned to her, 'What do you mean, we! I don't see you on this kick at all'  
  
'Ok, you know what I mean. Let's just go home and talk about it there.'  
  
Paige extended her hand and Richard grabbed it. They orbed back to Richard's mansion."  
  
"Well, I say, you're friends so far have maneuvered themselves into a good position. Is the fake Paige still operative?"  
  
"For that information, you'll have to listen to the rest of the story, but I've got to leave right now, but I'll be back tomorrow."  
  
"Thanks for the warning." Screwy gets up and leaves my coffee shop. 


	3. A Little Visit

Bad to Basics 3  
  
The next morning I'm working in my coffee shop when one Phoebe Halliwell shows up and wants to talk to me. She just walks on up to me and says, "Jack, do you have a few minutes to talk with me. Jason, my boyfriend, found out the hard way that I'm a witch with supernatural powers. Needless to say he didn't take it very well, and I guess we broke up."  
  
I reply, "So, why come to me? Don't you have sisters and a whitelighter to go to for this?  
  
"Paige is trying to find her boyfriend, Richard, Piper is to busy being Mom and businesswoman, and Chris is proved himself untrustworthy. He's not really a full whitelighter, and Leo is too busy being an elder and Wyatt's Dad."  
  
"What do you think I can do for you? I've been out of the loop for almost six months now."  
  
"Well," she replies, "I just needed someone to talk to."  
  
"Who do you think I am, James Taylor? I can fix broken hearts, just come running to me anytime your heart is broken. I'll just use my magic touch and your heart will be on the mend."  
  
"Oh yeah, don't flatter yourself."  
  
"Why not? No one else will." I say with a smirk on my face.  
  
"Very funny," as she looks at me with a coy smile. "You said that you'd be my Jack of Hearts once."  
  
"That I did, but the fact is I might be a Jack, but I'm nobodies fool. So, do you want to spend some time with me? We could always work the soup kitchen at Glide Memorial again. Seeing how bad some people have it will give you a different perspective."  
  
"Yeah, ok, whatever the doctor thinks is best."  
  
"And, I am the doctor, of love."  
  
Phoebe chuckles lightly as I say, "four 'o' clock, you know the place, see you there."  
  
Phoebe gets up and smiles at me before she turns and leaves my coffee shop.  
  
Thinking to myself, "Haven't seen Phoebe in months added to the visit from Screwy yesterday, could there be more going on or is this just one big coincidence?"  
  
Muttering, "Oh well," under my breath I get up and head into the back area of the shop and into my office.  
  
When I get into my office, I'm greeted by Leirda who says, "Jack, quickly I need a spell out of the Dark Grimoire."  
  
I interrupt, "Let me guess, you're being tracked by Paige Matthews who happens to be better at tracking shimmers than you thought."  
  
"Uhh," as she looks at with her mouth wide open in mild surprise, "How'd you know?"  
  
Smiling broadly, I reply, "I've got my ways."  
  
"Well, are you going to help me or what?"  
  
"Let me get this straight, she's tracking your shimmers, and you shimmered here. When she gets here, how am I going to explain your presents away? I've gone through a lot of trouble to stay below their radar "That's why I kind of figured you'd help me. I have her following an illusion of myself in the underworld right now, but I don't think that'll fool her long."  
  
"So, what do you propose we do?"  
  
"I remember seeing a high level confusion spell in the Grimoire. She's in a maze in the underworld; just add a lot of confusion and she might never see through my illusion."  
  
"Okay, but, I don't like being forced into this by the circumstances that you created."  
  
I sit down at my desk and unlock the bottom draw on the right side. Moving next to me Leirda reaches into the draw and pulls out a large antique black leather bond book. She opens the book and starts to flip through the pages, stopping when she gets to a page entitled, 'Confusion Spell'. Reading the page, I comment, "Well, this is not a simple spell; we'll need dragon's blood and Rosemary flowers."  
  
"Way ahead of you," as she pulls out a little satchel.  
  
"Ok, I've got the candles. Five smaller black ones to form a pentagram around the larger white one"  
  
After we set-up and light the candles we say in unison, "by the dark book's power, burnt dragon's blood and rosemary flower, we call Paige's mind by our spell, to remain in confusion while in hell."  
  
Leirda lowers the satchel into the flame of the white candle, which consumes it in a puff of black smoke.  
  
"Well," Leirda says, "It's been grand; we should do spells together more often, but I need to get back to Paige and make sure she remains in the underworld confused, and give her another trail to follow if she gets out of our spell."  
  
"Ah emm, could you put the book back into the draw for me?"  
  
Leirda puts the book back into the draw she got it out of and shimmers out.  
  
I sit down in my chair and think to myself, 'Did I really want to get drawn back into the drama of the Charmed Ones lives? The question now is, how do I save Paige without implicating myself?"  
  
I lean back in my chair with a smug smile on my face. 


	4. Encounter

Bad to Basics4  
  
Looking onto a mirror, I see the usual, a man in his young forties, tall and in good shape, a few flecks of grey hair around the ears. I look myself in my hazel green eyes and think, another date with Phoebe, what's it been six months or so. She must have had a good run with Jason since I haven't seen her in so long. I met her first after Jason left for Hong Kong and now again after they break-up. Do I detect a pattern here?  
  
Coming out of my thoughts, I start talking to myself in the mirror, "Oh well, anytime spent with Phoebe is good time," as he checks out his afternoon shadow and picks up his electric shaver and turns it on.  
  
It's a nice day out for San Francisco in February; the sun's out and the temperature is in the low sixties. I turn into an alley just after I get to Glide Memorial and head for a back entrance but decide to wait for Phoebe back out on the street. It was a nice brisk nine or ten block walk from my coffee shop/ apartment, which is upstairs in the same building as my shop, on the north fringe of the Financial district only two blocks from Chinatown to the 'theater' district better know as the Tenderloin. I can look down the street from Glide Memorial and see the 'Golden Gate Theater" and the California Hotel in which I first met Phoebe and Paige. Ok, it was in an alley behind the hotel, but that's another story.  
  
I look back down the street I walked up and spot Phoebe walking up the street towards me. When she spots me I wave at her, and she waves back. She makes her way across the street, and when she gets to me, I say, "We should have met at my shop and walked up together. We have so much to catch up on."  
  
"Hello to you too," Phoebe replies, "And what's to talk about. I screwed up and he broke up with me."  
  
"But you still work for his publication, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, but the one I work for is just one of a dozen that he owns, and I never worked directly for Jason."  
  
We walk back into the alley and down some stairs. Margie, an older woman thin and drawn in the face but with a lot of energy, greets us as we walk into the kitchen, "Hello Jack, how are you?"  
  
"As well as can be expected for a man of my age."  
  
"Your age," Margie replies, "I've known you over ten years and you haven't seemed to age one bit."  
  
"This is my friend, Phoebe; she's going to help serve tonight."  
  
"Oh yeah, I remember you, you helped a couple of times last summer, didn't you?"  
  
"Yeah, that's right. Sorry I haven't been here in the interim," Phoebe replies.  
  
"Aren't you some kind of columnist or something, an advice columnist if I'm remembering correctly?"  
  
"Yes," Phoebe says, "But I'm here just to help."  
  
"No publicity stunts this time." Margie says, "You and Reverend Cecil haven't cooked up anything this time."  
  
"No, Cecil doesn't even know I'm here."  
  
"Well good, let's get to work; we have hungry people to feed," Margie commands as she turns and pushes away a cart that has a large pot on it.  
  
Later that evening Phoebe and I emerge back on to the street. When we reach the corner, I ask, "Shall we walk back to your car or should we take a cab, my nickel."  
  
"Ok," Phoebe replies, "I'm almost as close to home as I am to work from here, but if I walk home, I'll have to get a ride to work in the morning, either that or take Muni."  
  
Well, I suggest we head down to the Golden Gate Theater. It'll be easier to catch a cab from there."  
  
We head down the street towards the theater, but before we get there we hear a woman scream, "What the?" coming from down an alley around a corner.  
  
Phoebe and I look at each other; Phoebe takes off running towards the sound of the scream. I'm thinking, I should have foreseen this, haven't we been here before?  
  
Running after Phoebe, I turn a corner into an alley and see Phoebe doing a flying kick into head of this grayish-skinned humanoid with claws and hairless. The creature goes sprawling into a near by wall. I know see that it was on top of a young woman who lies limply on the ground. Phoebe lands deftly on the ground between the creature and the woman in a fighting stance.  
  
I say, "Watch out for its claws, just one minor scratch, and you'll be paralyzed."  
  
The ghoulish thing gets up and starts moving slowly towards Phoebe, but Phoebe in the last moment squats down and does a sweeping kick that trips the thing up again. This time instead of getting up it reaches out and scratches Phoebe in the knee. Phoebe barely says, "Oh no!" before she falls to the ground limp.  
  
Having had enough of this, I move in front of the ghoul and raise my right palm forward, and it freezes where it is. I call out, "Screwy, you get your malicious troublemaking butt here, now!"  
  
A few moments later, Screwy shimmers into the alley and says, "What?"  
  
"You can remove this ghoul from here at once."  
  
"Hah," Screwy replies, "I don't take orders from you."  
  
"You want to meet your destiny right now." I say as I look into his eyes.  
  
"Ok," as he averts his eyes from my gaze, "Sheeze, ruin all my fun why don't you."  
  
As I watch Screwy, he walks over to the frozen ghoul, and when he touched it, they both shimmer out.  
  
By the time, Phoebe has motor skills again; I have her and the other girl leaning against a wall with blankets around them. Phoebe asks, "Thanks for the blanket and all, but I'm missing something and what was that thing, anyway?"  
  
"It was a ghoul, they exist somewhere between living and undead. They're easy to kill if you have acid or fire otherwise, they regenerate quickly. They feed on human flesh, dead or alive."  
  
"Ok," Phoebe replies, "More than I needed right now. How's the girl?"  
  
"She'll be alright, but she's still paralyzed. As soon as you can walk, we'll carry her to the street where we can catch a cab."  
  
"Hello, I'm Jack," I say to the other girl who can hear just not reply, "You're pretty lucky that my friend and I were around. If you were looking for the darker side of life, I'd say you found it." She is dressed all in black clothing and has a gothic make-up job. "I know you can't respond, but you can hear me. We'll take care of you until you can move on your own."  
  
The girl moves her mouth slowly at first then speaks, "Wow, that was a trip, can we do it again?"  
  
"Do it again? You almost died, and you're welcome, too."  
  
"Why does it matter to you whether I live or die?" She snidely retorts.  
  
"Oh brother, we cared enough to save you now whether we care enough in the future is up to you."  
  
"Anyway, you seem to know a lot about the darker side of life, just the kind of information I'm interested in, can you teach me?"  
  
"Well, if you want to learn more you can follow us." Phoebe chimes in.  
  
"Ok, can both of you walk yet?" I ask.  
  
They both nod their heads and slowly get to their feet. We all slowly make our way back out to the street. 


	5. An Interview with Jack

Bad to Basics5  
  
Phoebe enters the manor followed by our new friend, Eruin, and me. She is somewhat reserved in an untrusting way, so I had to drag it out of her, what she was doing in that alley. She told me that her spirit guide told her that if she went into that alley at that time, she'd meet a being of great power. Now she considers me that being of great power and the ghoul thing a test in her spirit quest. Oh joy! Phoebe thinks the whole turn of events is quite humorous, but I devolve. Let's get back to the story.  
  
Piper is in the sunroom playing with the kid. She looks up at us when we enter and says, "Well hello Jack, long time no see. I'd like to say that I missed you, but then I don't like to lie."  
  
"Nice to see you too, Piper. This," as I point to Eruin, "is Eruin." We met her in the tenderloin; she was hunting things that go thump in the night. I'm afraid she found one, and Phoebe and I had to save her."  
  
Piper turns towards Phoebe who says, "Yeah, it's all true. We have ghouls in the Tenderloin."  
  
"Oh great!" Piper replies, "And here I thought we were going to have quiet week."  
  
Just then, Paige and Richard burst in through the front door, and Paige announces with a flourish, "Hi everyone, notice anything different?"  
  
Paige is decked out in a new beautiful dark red pants suit with a large gaudy diamond necklace. She extends her right arm to show off a diamond tennis bracelet. Everyone else in the room collectively rolls their eyes, Paige continues, "Isn't Richard the most? A girl could get use to this kind of treatment. Anyway, Richard has procured us a room in the Atlantis, Bahamas, so that's where we'll be for the next week or so.  
  
Richard grinning ear to ear outs his arm around Paige, and they turn and walk out of the front door just as quickly as they entered.  
  
Piper and Phoebe look at each other, and Phoebe blurts out, "Who was that and what has she done with our sister?"  
  
Piper says, "Jack, keep an eye on Wyatt and your new friend. Phoebe and I need to go into the kitchen for a few minutes."  
  
Phoebe followed by Piper walks off to the kitchen, and Eruin turns to me and says, "Ok, how'd you get rid of that ghoul thing? One moment you're confronting the creature; the next you're dragging me off to the side of the alley, and I have a blanket wrapped around me."  
  
I look her in the eyes and say, "Patience my little friend all will be revealed in due time." As I raise my hand and freeze her. I then continue with a little spell, "As the comings and goings of the ants, to Phoebe and Piper's conversation grant me clairaudience.  
  
Almost immediately, I can hear Phoebe talking defensively, "At his coffee shop."  
  
"What!" Piper responds, "You know he can be more manipulative than Chris. I know you like him, but can we trust him?"  
  
"I went to see him just for somebody to talk to. You're busy with the club and Wyatt, and Paige was trying to hunt Richard down, I guess she found him."  
  
"Paige and Richard, that's another story and you're changing the subject," as she throws her hands up in a helpless jester, "You know that every time he's around things just go twisty."  
  
"He's never hurt us," Phoebe says defending me, "He hasn't done much to get on your bad side, not like Paige, didn't she orb him into a garbage dump?" "Yeah, she did, that was funny. You felt sorry for him, so you offered him our shower. Need I remind you of what happened?"  
  
"No," Phoebe hangs her head in shame, "That was just a few weeks after Jason left for Hong Kong the first time. I wasn't in the best of spaces then. He does have a great body for a man of sixty-four."  
  
"Now, you break up with Jason and go and see him not a week later, and you know he hasn't aged normally because of the magical parentage. Remember, we found out he was one of Grams's boy toys when we were kids."  
  
"Yuck, thanks for the reminder."  
  
"Just think you and Grams sharing the same man. You and Grams really do have the same taste in men."  
  
"Oh, you're having way too much fun with this conversation."  
  
"Yeah, I know, but what are sisters for?"  
  
"Ok, if you've had enough fun at my expense, can we get back to the present problems, and no, I have no interest in Jack other than using him as a resource."  
  
Piper chuckles slightly, "Yeah, I'm just wondering what kind of resource you're going to use him for."  
  
"Piper," Phoebe raises her voice slightly.  
  
"Ok," The giggle leaves Piper's voice, "It's just more than a coincidence that Paige goes off who knows where, and ghouls in the Tenderloin and you go and see Jack all in one day. I do not know how the dots connect, but I know that they do. What do you think is up with Paige? She's under some kind of spell of Richard's."  
  
"Yeah, a good place to start, the question is what kind of spell. We need to talk to Paige and Richard right away."  
  
"Leo, Leo," Piper calls out, "Leo, we need to talk."  
  
I hear an audible bzzz even through my clairaudience.  
  
"A busy signal," Phoebe chimes in, "What! Who do you think your bizzing?"  
  
There is silence for a few seconds. "Think I should call Chris?" Piper finally says.  
  
"Might as well," Phoebe says after a few more seconds delay, "Leo is actively ignoring us, and we need whitelighter help."  
  
Both of them blurt out at the same time, "Chris, Chris."  
  
A couple of seconds later Chris orbs in, "What's up? I thought you didn't want me around."  
  
Piper says, "We don't, but Paige and Richard have gone off the deep end, and we need to find them."  
  
Chris concentrates for a while until Phoebe asks, "What's wrong?"  
  
"I can't sense her anywhere." Chris says, "When's the last time you saw her?"  
  
"Just a few minutes ago, she and Richard said something about going to the Bahamas," Phoebe and Piper say at the same time. Another pause of silence, until Phoebe chimes in, "That and Jack's out in the sunroom with his new friend, Eruin, and Jack and I ran into a ghoul, up to speed yet?"  
  
Yeah, that reminds me, how much does Eruin know about us?" Piper asks.  
  
"Only that I'm a good kick-boxer. Jack froze the situation, so she only knows that she might have a gap in her memory. We came out of the freeze and he had us wrapped in blankets and was moving us off to the side of the alley."  
  
"Well good, let's try and keep the amount she knows to a minimum, shall we?"  
  
I drop my clairaudience spell and unfreeze Eruin just as Piper is entering the sunroom. Eruin continues talking, "Patience, I'm twenty years old; I'm not long on patience."  
  
Piper says, "So what have you two been talking about?"  
  
"Talking," Eruin says, but I interrupt quickly, "Talking about a lot of things, the weather, the beauty of your house, how about you?"  
  
Eruin gives me a queer look but drops it quickly, Good girl, I'm thinking to myself, This one seems like one I should keep around, knows when to keep quiet and when to speak.  
  
I look at Piper and see Chris and Phoebe follow her into the room. 


	6. Jack on the Spot

Bad to Basics6 – Jack on the Spot  
  
"Hello Chris," I say as he enters the room, "Long time no see."  
  
"Hello to you too, Jack," He says in a dispirited manner.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" I reply, "Destiny catching up to you?"  
  
Everybody looks at me with questioning in their eyes, but I let it go. "So Chris, this is my new friend, Eruin. Eruin, this is Chris, yada, yada, yada. Now that everybody has been introduced..."  
  
"We can get down to business," Piper finishes my sentence, then she looks at Eruin and says, "Hello dear, my name is Piper me and my sister Phoebe live here. Our other sister, Paige, who you just saw storm in here and then storm out, is acting a bit strange. We need a little time to talk alone, so could you go into the next room and wait a little while?" Piper points towards the living room.  
  
As Eruin leaves the room, Piper moves over and closes the door behind her. Piper turns and addresses me, "Let me get this straight: my sister, Paige, is wigged out, probably by magical means, and you just happen to show up here with Phoebe, an innocent, just after rescuing them from a ghoul. Don't tell me that it's all one big coincidence that you're here now."  
  
"Hey," I reply, "Phoebe came to see me. I didn't seek her out."  
  
"Just a convenient excuse if you ask me, now you want me to believe that it's all one big coincidence."  
  
"Believe what you will, but I don't sit around my shop dreaming up ways to make your life difficult," I say defensively.  
  
"Whatever, we need to find Paige and she's off Chris's radar. Do you have anyway of tracking her?"  
  
"Have you tried any scrying spells yet?" I say sarcastically.  
  
"Usually, if Chris can't sense her, out scrying won't either," Phoebe interjects.  
  
"Either she's got herself masked from scrying or she's not in this realm of existence," I add, "Come on the two of you are experienced enough to make a spell that will get through masks or be trans-dimensional."  
  
Good idea, Jack, come on girls, I've got a few ideas on how to make this work," Chris finally chimes in.  
  
Just then, the doorbell rings, when we walk into the front hall, we see Eruin opening up the door to Richard. Richard with a forlorn look on his face says, "I lost her. We orbed into the Bahamas and had a confrontation with this voodoo lady whom we met last time we were there. She vanquished Paige, caught us totally by surprise. The said that that wasn't really Paige, but a demon disguised as Paige. Do you guys know anything about this?"  
  
Everybody's eyes turn toward me. I say, "What! Why is everybody looking at me?" Even Eruin joins in, after she sees everybody else looking at me.  
  
Richard says, "What's he doing here? Do you know who he is, what he is? He's one of the Fallen, and they're notoriously untrustworthy."  
  
"Yes, we know about Jack, but we have this feeling that he's somehow involved."  
  
"That figures, so Jack, what have you done with my girlfriend?"  
  
"Me, why do you think that I have anything to do with Paige's disappearance?" "Excuse me," Eruin interrupts, "What do you mean by vanquished a demon?"  
  
All eyes turn toward Eruin as she looks at us with pleading in her eyes. Phoebe breaks the silence, "You remember the ghoul in the tenderloin. Well, that was a demon, and Jack vanquished it. As I understand it, there is some kind of binding magic that enables demons to exist, so if you break that binding spell, you send to nothingness or as we say you vanquish them."  
  
"So, you and your sisters demon hunters of a sort?"  
  
"Well, not really, they tend to find us although we've been known to hunt on occasion."  
  
"All well and good," Piper adds, "But, the question still remains, Jack. How are you involved? And, don't give me anything about coincidence, you know everything happens for a reason."  
  
I chuckle softly for a few seconds; the reply, "Still stuck on that old platitude, are we? You'd think you'd have moved beyond that by now. Maybe coincidence is the reason. Maybe all this has happened to show you that you cannot understand it all."  
  
"Don't you patronize me!" Piper snaps back, "You're avoiding my question."  
  
"I'm not avoiding your question. It's just I have no answer, and that's my only defense. If you want me to leave then I'll leave, but if you want my help I'm at your deposal."  
  
"He's been helpful before," Phoebe answers, "I say he should stay. He may still be here for a reason no matter what he says."  
  
"Ok," Piper says, "If only because it's easier to keep an eye on him."  
  
"Hey, hey, hey," I interject, "I'm standing right here."  
  
"Well," Piper turns towards me, "You patronize me, and I'll be condescending to you, seems fair to me. Phoebe, Chris, Richard with me to the attic, we have book work to do. Jack, do you mind entertaining our guest for a while? We'll call you if we need you."  
  
Piper, Phoebe and Richard head for the stairs, but Chris calls after them, "I'll join you in a few minutes. I have some other things to attend to."  
  
Piper looks back at him as if she's going to say something then thinks better of it. After the whole group disappears up the stairs, Chris turns towards me and asks, "What did you mean by destiny catching up with me? What do you know?"  
  
"The sky's blue unless it's raining out." I snidely reply.  
  
"What!" Chris looks at me questioningly, "What are you talking about?"  
  
"You asked me what I know, so I answered you."  
  
"Very funny, but I'm being serious. My very existence is in question."  
  
"Everything that you try is going to fail."  
  
"You mean that I'm going to cease to exist."  
  
"No, I said nothing you try to insure your existence is going to succeed. What, you think you can play with fate and destiny by time traveling and get away with it. It's time to pay the piper, no pun intended, and the tune that's playing is going to make you squirm a little, ok a lot." I say with this larger than life smile on my face, "And I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."  
  
"Oh," Chris says dejectedly, "You could be a little nicer about it."  
  
"Why, and ruin all my fun, I don't even know what we're talking about, but I know destiny, and you have a destiny problem written all over you. What ever it is, it looks really entertaining from my point of view."  
  
"I shouldn't have said anything to you," Chris says as he turns to leave.  
  
"I would have known whether you said anything or not, but it's more entertaining knowing that you know that I know."  
  
Chris shakes his head and runs up the stairs. Eruin says, "You could have been nicer to him than that."  
  
"Yeah," I reply with that large smile on my face again, "But where's the fun in that." 


	7. Jack Tags Along

Bad to Basics7, "Finding the Right Paige"  
  
After Piper, Phoebe and Chris go upstairs; I retreat back into the sunroom and sit in a wicker chair. Eruin follows me in and sits in a chair near mine. She turns to ma and says, "Why don't you go and help them? You seem to have more experience in this magic stuff than they do."  
  
"That may be," I reply, "But, they're family, and they work well together in their close knit family unit."  
  
"The two women are sisters, what are their names? But, how is Chris related to them?"  
  
"Not quite sure, but I think Phoebe knows. Phoebe, she's the bubbly one; the more stoic one is Piper, and it's funny how you remembered the young man's name."  
  
"So, are you going to ask Phoebe, how Chris is related to them?" Eruin asks.  
  
"No, it's more fun just watching them, and anyway, if I where to broach the subject, it'd all end up being my fault, so it's better I don't say anything."  
  
"How could it be your fault? You didn't make them related; you just know that they are related."  
  
"Then I'd have to answer all those questions on how I know. Questions I'd rather avoid. On another note, I'm going to have to go with them to retrieve their missing sister, so you're going to have to go home and stay out of trouble, can I count on you to do that?"  
  
"Well," She dragged it out for a few seconds, "Me and my friends can now take on those ghouls since we know how to hurt them and what to avoid."  
  
"That wouldn't be too wise," I reply, "Ghouls are usually grunts for something much worse. I'm going to go out on a limb; I'm going to let you stay at my place till we find Paige."  
  
Her eyes light up as she looks deeply into my eyes. I continue without reacting to her look, "I have a large personal library, and you could look through it. It has a lot of information on things that go bump in the night and also on how to do magical spells."  
  
"You mean real magic, not just ritualistic bull?" She looks at me questioningly.  
  
"Well, yes, but it takes time and practice, but I could teach you if you'd like"  
  
She gets up sets over to me and gives me a big hug. Phoebe followed by Piper, Chris and Richard walk into the room, and Phoebe says, "Do the two of you need a room?"  
  
I gentlily push Eruin off of me and say, "Not now, maybe later." I kiss her on the cheek as she gets up off of me.  
  
"Eiw," Phoebe says, "I didn't know you like them so young?"  
  
"It was just a hug," Eruin interjects, "He just volunteered to teach me magic."  
  
"Well, in that case go to town. We'll just wait in the next room till you're done."  
  
"We're done," I say, "At least for now. What's up? Have you found Paige?"  
  
"Have you ever heard of the Maze of Confusion?" Phoebe says while looking me in the eye, "It's supposed to be in the underworld someplace, looks like we're going to have to take a trip. Eruin, do you have a place to stay?"  
  
"Why, yes I do," Eruin says, "Jack just offered me a place to stay."  
  
Phoebe looks at me. "What? What'd I do?" I grin sheepishly, "She wants to learn magic, and I could use the help around the coffee shop, seemed perfectly logical to me."  
  
"I'll get Wyatt to the Magic school," Piper says, "You get Miss Eruin back to Jack's place. Chris, you keep an eye on Jack till we're already to go."  
  
"Sounds like a project," Phoebe says, "Come on Eruin. Jack you have a key for her or something"  
  
"What!" I say in a loud voice, "No one is going to my place without me. Why can't Eruin go home with me? Are you implying that you want me along on this adventure? What if I don't want to go?"  
  
"It's easier to keep an eye on you when you're with us," Piper says while looking me in the eye.  
  
"Why don't you trust me?" I plead to her, "For six months you didn't keep track of me, why the change?"  
  
"Just one too many coincidences, that's all," Piper replies.  
  
"And you think I orchestrated this whole chain of events for some reason."  
  
"You said it," Piper chimes in with a little chuckle in her voice, "Saves me the trouble."  
  
"Is that so!" I respond, "Maybe it was part of my plan to have you insist that I join you all along."  
  
"Nice try," Phoebe interjects, "But we're not buying the reverse psychology gambit this time."  
  
I slump down in my chair defeated. Eruin bubbles over, "So where is this underworld and how do you get there and, oh yeah, can I come along?"  
  
"It's much to dangerous," Piper says in a calming voice, "For someone as inexperienced as you. It'd be better if you stayed here and stayed out of trouble since Jack won't let you stay at his place without him."  
  
"What I meant is that it wouldn't be safe for Phoebe to go there without me. Eruin doesn't have the skill to access the really dangerous stuff, but Phoebe does. I don't know if I can trust you, Phoebe, to keep you hands off the artifacts. You can't keep your hands off of me."  
  
"In your dreams buddy," Phoebe replies.  
  
"That's not the way it was last summer after Jason left for the first time," I say as I wink at her.  
  
"Shut up!" Phoebe raises her voice, "That was then, this is now."  
  
"Ok children," Piper puts her foot down, "Jack, you go with Phoebe if that will make you comfortable. We'll meet back here in a half hour, ready break."  
  
"I get to go on a car ride with my two favorite woman in the whole world, works for me." I say as I get up and head for the front door.  
  
You just don't know when to stop, do you Jack," Phoebe says as she gets her keys and a jacket.  
  
Eruin follows us out the front door and into the night. 


	8. Serendipity

Bad to Basics8  
  
I'm on a ledge in the middle of a cliff with a cave entrance in the wall with Piper, Phoebe and Chris. We can feel the heat coming off the river of lava that's flowing at the bottom of the cliff. "Are you sure we're in the right place, Chris?" I ask.  
  
"Yes," Chris replies, "Entrance to the caves of confusion, once we enter, we will not be able to orb out. Even most demons can't shimmer or teleport out of this place, only some of the upper level demons know how to get out of here via magical transport, so we're going to have to walk in and walk out. Be on your guard as many demons have wandered in here only to be trapped. Some say that this maze of caves was made as a separation zone between the upper levels of the underworld from the lower levels."  
  
"So the underworld has a hierarchy or better yet a lower-archy," I interject, "and this is the way the upper level demons keep their living space clear of all the lower level riff-raff."  
  
"You could say that," Chris says.  
  
"So, how are we going to find our way out?" I ask.  
  
"I can create light at will being part whitelighter," Chris replies, "I can put the light on an object or part of an object, so I can leave us a trail of lights as we go. I can also sense Paige as I'm sure Phoebe can to. We'll be the blood hounds on this trip."  
  
"Oh Chris, thanks," Phoebe quips, "Just what I always wanted to be, a dog."  
  
"And, a might beautiful dog at that," I add.  
  
Phoebe turns to me and sticks her tongue out at me. "Don't stick it out unless you know how to use it," I continue.  
  
"Oh! I know how to use it," Phoebe replies.  
  
"Could have fooled me," I say as I move in closer to her.  
  
Phoebe steps back and says, "Back off Jack! You had your shot but decided to play hard to get."  
  
"Was I too hard to get or just too hard for you to handle?" I say as I wink at her.  
  
"Oh, dream on Jack, dream on," Phoebe pithily comments.  
  
"Yeah, but a day dreamin' of you is worth a 1000 days with a 1000 other woman," I retort.  
  
"You two want to be alone." Piper finally interjects, "because Chris and I could find Paige without you and leave the two of you here to banter to your hearts content."  
  
"Be alone with him," Phoebe replies, "Only in his dreams, but you're right Piper, we're supposed to be here for Paige." Both Piper and Phoebe look at me.  
  
I smile back and say, "Ok, I'll be good, or as good as I can be. Hey, I didn't want to be here in the first place."  
  
Chris starts off into the cave and the rest of us follow. When we get about 60 feet into the cave, Chris touched the wall with his finger and leaves a finger print sized area of light on the wall. This solves two problems: one it gives us light, and two it gives us a start of a trail to follow out. When we get to our first intersection, Piper and I stand watch as Chris and Phoebe confer on which way to go. We do this uneventfully for at least two hours when we stop at yet another intersection, I take up my guard duty when lightening comes out of the darkness and zaps me good. I tried to dodge it but didn't make it out of the way in time. Everyone else turns towards the source of the lightening just in time to see another lightening bolt coming towards us. Piper quickly freezes it just before it gets to her. I hit the wall and slump down to the floor involuntarily. Piper calls out, "Chris cast some light down that corridor so we can see what we're up against."  
  
Chris throws an orb down the corridor, and we see a bluish colored humanoid forming another ball of lightening between its hands. When it sees that it's in the light it stops with the lightening and quickly retreats down the corridor. Chris and Phoebe come over to where I'm slumped over in a corner to see how I am. Phoebe opens her mouth and comments, "Look, there's drool running down on his chin. Man, where's a camera when you need one."  
  
"Are you alright?" Chris asks me.  
  
"Yoooo!" I babble, "Ush bah hoy."  
  
"Well, he's alive," Phoebe says, "That could be good new or that could be bad."  
  
"Come on Phoebe, be nice," Chris defends me, "He just took a lightening bolt for the group effort."  
  
"Yeah, ok," Phoebe says as she leans over me to check my pulse and breathing. "He's still breathing and has a pulse." she announces.  
  
"Well, is he going to live?" Piper chimes in.  
  
"Yeah," I'm finally able to say, "I'll live and even be able to walk again in a few minutes."  
  
"Glad to hear it," Piper replies.  
  
A few minutes later we're off on our quest again. We traveled on for another hour or so when Chris sees a faint light source up ahead. As we get closer and rounded a few more corners, the light gets brighter until we come into a large cavern that is almost as bright as day with a tree growing in the middle of it. The tree has lush foliage on it and bright red fruit that look good to the eye. Phoebe walks towards the tree as she says, "Wow! What a wonderful looking tree. I wonder if the fruit is edible."  
  
"Stop!" I say, "Don't go any closer to that tree."  
  
Phoebe asks, "Why?" as she keeps walking towards the tree, but it's too late. The roots of the tree reach up and grab her and pin her to the ground.  
  
Chris and Piper exclaim, "No!" at the same time and rush in to help Phoebe, but they are caught by the tree's roots also leaving me about 30 feet away smiling at this turn of events.  
  
"Well, you two were a big help." I comment.  
  
"Ok," Piper says, "All kidding aside, do you have any idea on how to get us out of this?"  
  
"I do." Chris says as he orbs out but orbs immediately back in to where he was. "That didn't work." he says as he looks to me for answers.  
  
"What, why do you all think I know anything about this." I say defensively.  
  
"Well," Phoebe says, "You did know that I shouldn't approach this tree before I did."  
  
"I was just being wary." I reply.  
  
"Right!" All three of them say in unison as they look into my eyes as if they're not believing a word I say.  
  
Just then we hear a groggy voice coming from the other side of the tree, "Hey, is somebody there?"  
  
I walk around the tree to the other side and there in the dirt all tangled up in roots is Paige. When she sees me she exclaims, "Jack, what are you doing here? I should have known that you'd be involved."  
  
"Hey, who's there? Jack is there somebody there? Piper interjects.  
  
"Who have we been looking for?" I reply.  
  
"What?" Piper responds.  
  
"Not what, who?" I say.  
  
"Piper? Is that you? I can't see you. I'm trapped by theses roots." Paige says.  
  
"Paige," Piper responds, "We're trapped by the roots on the other side of the tree just like you. Jack's the only one of us that didn't get trapped by the tree. Chris and Phoebe are here also."  
  
"Oh great," Paige says, "You know that I got lost down here while tracking Leirda. Funny how every time we run into that demonic seductress, we run into Jack."  
  
"Wait a minute there," I reply, "I did not seek you out; Phoebe came to me. I didn't want to go on this vacation; you insisted that I come along."  
  
"Yada, yada, yada, yada," Piper says, "Tell us something we don't know. It's just funny how you're always around just when we need you, and you know just the right thing to do as if you planned the whole thing."  
  
"Right, I'm good but not that good." I reply, "Like I could have planned for Phoebe's visit, and you're insisting that I go on this foray, and that you were going to be captured by a Poison Tree."  
  
"Ah ha," Phoebe interjects, "So you do know what this plant is which means you probably know how to bet us out, what are you waiting for?"  
  
"Enjoying having you as a captive audience," I comment, "That's what."  
  
"Argh," Paige growls, "When I get out of here, I'm going to do worse than dump you in a garbage dump."  
  
"Will it involve whips and chains?" I reply, "Oh baby, oh baby."  
  
If looks could kill, I'd have been a dead man on the spot. "Ok, ok," I respond rather sheepishly, "I'll get you out, don't get your panties all tied up in a knot."  
  
"Hey, no panties here!" Chris chimes in.  
  
"Watered with some bitter tears, now I spread the tears of joy, so that you can hold my friends no more." I say as I milk so tears out of my eyes and flick them on to the roots of the tree. The tree roots immediately start to retreat, and I make a path to Paige and then the others. Having found what we were looking for we beat a hasty retreat following Chris's path of lights to the entrance of the maze. Back in the manor I bid the re-united family good-bye.  
  
"You know that you might be powerful witches but you still have plenty to learn. Read "A Poison Tree" by William Blake for instance and other artists and poets that come down to us as crack pots. A lot of them were witches like you with no other way to express their experiences other than through their art." With that I walk out the front door leaving it open. 


	9. The Apology

Bad to Basics 9: An Apology  
  
The next morning I'm busy in the back of my coffee shop grinding up some coffee when the girl working the counter calls me, "Jack, there's some people here to see you."  
  
I roll my eyes and say to myself, "What now?" as I walk out into the front of the shop, where I spot Paige and Phoebe buying some coffee.  
  
"Hi Jack," Phoebe says with a sheepish smile, "How are you?"  
  
"Ok," I reply warily, "So, what brings you to this part of town?"  
  
"We're here to apologize for not thanking you for your help last night." Phoebe continues.  
  
"Well, isn't this a change of heart. Last night you all but accused me of being the greatest evil alive."  
  
"Ok, you have to admit that you can be a little manipulative at times" Phoebe replies.  
  
"This is supposed to be an apology."  
  
"Don't make it any harder than it has to be," Phoebe continues.  
  
"Why shouldn't I make it as difficult as possible, make sure that you are truly sincere in your apology?"  
  
"Shut up," Paige finally chimes in, "I'm not apologizing to him no matter what Piper says."  
  
"So Paige, you're only here because big sister told you it was the right thing to do."  
  
"Hey, hey, you two, play nice," Phoebe interjects, "Jack you could play nice."  
  
"What? And ruin a perfect reputation, ok, why don't we still down at this table. I have some things to say to you."  
  
We all move around a close table and sit down. I continue, "You guys are so full of yourselves; I'm afraid that you're headed for a thumping, not so much a physical thumping as a spiritual one."  
  
"What? Come again." Paige interjects.  
  
I look Paige in the eye and say, "I haven't come once, but I will if you let me."  
  
"Eew," Paige spits out while Phoebe visibly stops herself from laughing out loud.  
  
"Sorry," I say with just a touch of sarcasm, "But you really think that you know what ultimate evil is and that you met it and defeated two or three times. There are many levels to this good and evil thing and you've seen through maybe to the second level. Warning, you've come to rely on magic too much, and there will be a price to pay."  
  
"Ok," Phoebe says, "What price and where are you getting your information."  
  
"Just an intuition," I reply, "But if I where you I'd take it seriously if I were you. You know me; I don't usually share this much. Just look at Chris right now, I know that you don't trust him very much, but in all of it he's the one you should trust the most. He's playing a very dangerous game with fate and destiny, and it's not all assured that he'll even survive."  
  
"Are you threatening Chris now?" Paige adds, "You've always seemed to get along with him."  
  
"You'll be called on to save him but won't be able to, and those who least want to see Chris survive will cause the circumstances that might cause him to survive. Irony! If you're ever to understand what goodness is, then you're going to have to take some lessons in irony."  
  
"Ok Jack, enough with the cryptic." Paige interjects, "Are you going to give us something concrete to go on?"  
  
"Can't, you need to face the next few weeks without any pre-knowledge. Even so I don't know anything definitive, just intuitions and probabilities. I've probably said too much already."  
  
"Well, nice talking to you," Phoebe says, "And I'm sorry for being such a snit last night."  
  
"Yeah, me too," Paige adds with more than just a touch of sarcasm.  
  
"That's alright," I reply, "Even if you don't mean your apology wholeheartedly. Just your coming here was more than I expected, Paige."  
  
"How come everytime we run into you we also run into Leirda, the seductress?" Paige asks.  
  
"Yeah, I caught another demon spying on Richard and me, and when I chased him, he lead me into a trap that was set-up by Leirda, as if she knoew I was coming. What's up, why were we being spied on, and what do you know about it?" Paige asks me.  
  
"How should I know anything about what some demons are planning? Why would they let me in on their plans? If you were them would you trust me that much?" I reply, "Even so I was through all this with your sisters, and my best defense is that Phoebe came to me on another matter. My involvement is all Phoebe's and Piper's doing. I'm just glad I was able to help, and for that you're welcome."  
  
"It's just to convenient. Some times things are just a little to coincidental. I don't know how you do it, but I know that you manipulated this whole situation for some reason." Paige complains.  
  
"Do you think the Source of All-Evil is the most powerful evil there is? I've got news for you. There are more powerful beings who manipulate things from behind the scenes. You and the demons are just like pieces on a chess board to them. Phoebe, haven't you ever felt that your whole relationship with Cole was manipulated by something you just couldn't put your finger on. Your ex-husband died a greater hero of good than you'll ever know, more than he ever realized. In the end he chose self-destruction rather than serve these forces."  
  
"You make Cole out to be some kind of unsung hero. I've got news for you; he was far from that." Phoebe replies.  
  
"You think that way because of your small view on what goodness is."  
  
"Fraid you're wrong, Jack," Paige interjects, "He didn't sacrifice himself; I vanquished him."  
  
"Yeah, but do you know how he got himself into that position? Do you know how he was able to manipulate time and space that much? Have you ever even asked these questions?"  
  
Both Paige and Phoebe have no resonce to this and just sit there for a few seconds staring at me.  
  
"The last question you need to ask is how do I know all this? With that I'll say good-bye." I get up and walk back to my work, but I can feel their eyes sraing at me as I disappear through the back door. 


End file.
